I’ve now lived in the Phoenix area for almost three months. This is the first “big city” that I have ever lived in. I spent my last three and a half years in Yuma, Arizona. And I grew up in a pretty small town graduating with a little over 100 people (small I know). I consider, Fairland, my hometown; the place where I grew up and was raised. Not everyone gets the experience of living in the same place for 18 years. Some kids move from home to home because of their parents’ work. Some children float between mom and dad’s place because they are divorced or not together. Some children don’t even have a place they can call home.
The truth is though, we all long for a home. We all seek a place of refuge. A place where we can feel welcomed, invited, appreciated. A place to lay our heads at night and feel safe. Most of all, a place where we can feel loved. Jane Austen said, “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”
Why do we all have an innate longing to have a home? The Lord created us. Created family. I believe this is where we first saw what “home” is. When God created Adam and Eve, I believe they felt “at home” when they were with each other. Where they could feel safe, secure, loved.
The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I begin to realize that with him, I can truly feel safe, secured, and most of all, loved. If I am honest however, there days where I forget that. I forget how much He loves me. I forget His finished worked on the cross. I begin to long for things that this world says will please me: Money, luxury, success, status quo, popularity, instagram followers, and the list could go on. I try to build up the “home” around me. Thinking it will make me feel safe, secure, loved.
The pastor at my church touched on a part of this passage recently, and I began to try and really examine my heart…..
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Then I realized something….
As much as I love my family and my hometown, it still is not my home.
My current house in Phoenix is not my home.
The United States is not my home.
This world is not my home.
HEAVEN IS MY HOME
So if heaven is my home, why would I spend so much time, energy, money, and resources investing in something that will one day be gone? I believe, Church, if we could wake up everyday with an eternal perspective, remembering that this world is not where we belong and heaven is our true home, the impact we can have is tremendous. Living each day with an eternal perspective eliminates any complexity we could try and add to life. It leaves us with more room for him. Like John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease”.Nothing, and I mean nothing, in this world can truly provide a place where I feel safe, secure, and loved at all times except in the loving arms of Jesus.
I challenge you (as I challenge myself) to wake up each day and remind our hearts and minds that we live for a God who is eternal. And will one day call us home.
TO OUR TRUE HOME.
As always, here are a couple of videos to supplement this post. Francis Chan does an awesome job of driving home an eternal perspective. And a song by Building 429 called “Where I belong”.
GATHER IN THE LIGHT 